After a few months’ delay and some gentle nudging on social media over the past few weeks, the MTA this month finally released detailed ridership figures for 2017, and it’s not hard to see why the agency delayed releasing these numbers, as they usually do, in May. In short, 2017 was not a good year for the New York City Subway (and 2018 is shaping up to worse). The decline echoes with ramifications well beyond the confines of New York City Transit’s budget projections.

RB Rail has awarded the contract to conduct the feasibility study of Pärnu freight terminal in the context of the Rail Baltica project to Civitta Estonia AS and Railistics GmbH. The contract, excluding VAT, is valued at €139,876.

The Rail Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is partnering with the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and Deakin University to develop a ‘Smart Rail Route Map’ for Australia’s rail industry.

A new livery for 470 006. The locomotive from now has a blue wrap celebrating ‘150 éves a MÁV’ – or the 150th birthday of the Hungarian state railways. Of course, many were present along the lines to portray the locomotive in its new look this weekend.

“The leaders of three of the nation’s most vital industry organizations—which are sometimes at odds on various federal policies—came together to rebuke trade policy emerging from Washington that hinders global commerce,” the AAR, ACC and API leaders jointly said.

On July 13, 2018, the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), joint venture of three Baltic states RB Rail AS, the Ministry of Economics and Communication of Estonia, the Ministry of Transport of Latvia and the Ministry of Transport and Communication of Lithuania signed the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Grant Agreement for the construction of the Rail Baltica conventional railway infrastructure.

At InnoTrans 2018, more than 3,000 exhibitors will be showcasing their products on an area of 200,000m2, covering 41 halls and 3,500m of rail track at the world’s largest transport trade fair in Berlin.

The government and the rail industry has developed a joint action plan to remove barriers to better data use by improving access to data, developing better standards, increasing skills and encouraging collaboration

Polish operator PKP Cargo and coal mining company JSW are studying the possibilities of using hydrogen as a fuel to power trains. New types of shunting locomotives and freight wagons could be powered by hydrogen fuel.

Under the changes announced by Siemens President and Chief Executive Joe Kaeser, the company’s divisions will be eliminated with operations reorganized into three “operating companies” and three “strategic companies”.

Lovetro, who has led the company since joining in 2011, “solidified TRAC Intermodal as a leading provider of intermodal equipment and services,” the company said. “TRAC’s current strong financial and operational position makes this an opportune time for a transfer in leadership.”

“Many nVent product brands have a significant legacy in the rail industry, including nVent ERICO, which was founded in 1903 as the Electric Railway Improvement Company,” says Global Marketing Manager Railway Solutions Dan Whiteley.

The European Union Agency for Railways will be using InnoTrans 2018 to demonstrate the ‘one-stop-shop’ IT tool through which all applications for safety certificates, vehicle authorisations and ERTMS approvals will be submitted form June 2019.

The joint venture “is expected to accelerate the growth of Rajant’s connectivity solutions in the global rail industry, ushering in the next wave of innovation for passenger and freight systems and bringing new capabilities to the industry,” Rajant said.